Germany commemorates victims of racist shooting, 1 year on

Top officials, religious leaders and soccer stars are commemorating the victims of a racist attack in the German town of Hanau last year

APTOPIX Germany Hanau Shooting Anniversary (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Top officials, religious leaders and soccer stars are commemorating the victims of a racist attack in the German town of Hanau, one year after the gunman shot dead nine people with immigrant backgrounds before killing his mother and then himself.

The rampage in Hanau, near Frankfurt, caused widespread shock in Germany and beyond. Anti-racism campaigners called for a crackdown on hate speech of the kind espoused by the attacker, Tobias Rathjen, who left behind a paranoid rant filled with conspiracy tropes and vitriol against migrants.

The head of Germany's Protestant church, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, called Friday for vigilance when it comes to overt and hidden racism.

“We have almost forgotten again what happened back then,” he said in a video message. “But the relatives of the victims are suffering to this day.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was due to make a speech at a memorial event in Hanau in the evening expressing solidarity with the victims and their loved ones.

Relatives have insisted that the names of the victims be made public, a rare practice in privacy-conscious Germany.